Chiyuv of Hafroshas Challoh on Donuts
4. When a person makes donuts with a thick dough of flour and water that he plans to cook in water or fry in oil, most rishonim hold that despite the thickness of the dough, it does not need hafroshas challoh since it is not being made into bread (סתימת המחבר יו"ד סי' שכ"ט ס"ג ).
5. However, Rabbeinu Tam is of the opinion that we do not care about one's plans; since the dough is chayov in hafroshoh before it is cooked or fried, the cooking/frying does not exempt it (ר"ת, ברכות ל"ז: ד"ה לחם ).
6. The Maharam was machmir like Rabbeinu Tam. Therefore, he instructed his family to take some of the dough and bake it. This obligated all the dough in hafroshas challoh even though the rest would be cooked (כמבואר בשו"ע יו"ד סי' שכ"ט ס"ד ). The poskim write that even when cooking or frying all the dough, one should separate challoh without a brochoh (ט"ז וש"ך שם, הגרש"י הירש, מנחת שי סי' כ"ח ).
Mezonos or Hamotzi?
7. The poskim argue regarding the brochoh on a food prepared with regular dough made of flour and water that is not pas habo'oh bekisnin [even if it has a bread-like form – "tzuras lechem" – and requires hafroshas challoh, e.g., when one kneaded dough planning to bake it and then decided to fry it in oil or cook it in water]. Some say it is Mezonos since something is only bread if it is baked (רוב ראשונים ); others say it is Hamotzi since it has a bread-like form (שי' ר"ת, והוא שני דיעות בשו"ע או"ח סי' קס"ח סי" ג ).
8. The Mechaber implies that he holds like the first opinion, that the brochoh is Mezonos, but he concludes that a G-d-fearing person should be safe and say Hamotzi, eat a different bread, and only then eat this food. The Ramo writes that the minhag is to be meikel and say Mezonos (שם ), at least if the dough was kneaded from the outset for the purpose of frying or cooking (מ"ב סקע"ה ).
Donuts Today
9. Donuts today are usually made from flour and water and deep-fried in oil. They fall into the above category, and those who follow the Ramo's opinion should say Mezonos on them. Many Sephardim today also say Mezonos, as will be explained later (כפה"ח קס"ח קז, שו"ת אור לציון ח"ב עמ' צ ח ).
Donuts during a Meal
10. The Mechaber's recommendation to a G-d-fearing person does not work so well for modern-day donuts. According to the poskim who hold they are Mezonos, a Hamotzi will not cover them since they are generally eaten as a dessert at the end of the meal, in which case they could require a Mezonos even if one said Hamotzi at the beginning of the meal (ביאה"ל ד"ה וירא, אור לציון תשובה ד' פמ"א, וזאת הברכה לוח ברכות הע' ק"א ).
11. Several poskim hold that donuts fried in a lot of oil are Mezonos because they are pas habo'oh bekisnin, not because they are fried (ט"ז הובא בביאה"ל ד"ה וכל זה ). According to these poskim, eating them within a meal gets into shailos of pas habo'oh bekisnin during a meal; these halochos are discussed by the Biur Halochoh (סי' קס"ח ס"ח ד"ה טעונים )(see issue 298 at length).
12. That being the case, perhaps it is better not to eat them during a meal since doing so gets into shailos of whether one should say Mezonos. Thus, the poskim write it is better to eat them outside of a meal and say Mezonos (הגרשז"א, קונטרס מבקשי תורה, שו"ת אור לציון הנ"ל ).
Eating Donuts as a Meal ["Kevius Seudoh"]
13. If donuts are Mezonos because they are fried, one says Mezonos no matter how many he eats (מ"ב שם סק"ע ) because they are viewed as a cooked dish, not as a form of bread ["pas"].
14. However, if they are Mezonos because they are pas habo'oh bekisnin, one only says Mezonos if he does not eat them as a meal. When eaten as a meal ["koveia seudoh"], they are Hamotzi and require Birkas Hamozon [see Chukai Chaim, Issue 17 for a full discussion about this]. According to the first opinion (above, 7), something fried cannot be pas habo'oh bekisnin and is always Mezonos; according to Rabbeinu Tam, donuts are Hamotzi and require Birkas Hamozon (ביאה"ל שם ).
Baking the Dough after Frying It
15. Dough fried in oil or cooked in water does not require hafroshas challoh and is Mezonos only if it was not subsequently baked. If it was subsequently baked in an oven, it has the full status of bread: thus, challoh must be separated (שו"ע יו"ד סי' שכ"ט ס"ח ), and it is Hamotzi and requires Birkas Hamozon (שו"ע או"ח סי' קס"ח סי"ד ).
16. American bagel. Thus, the brochoh on an "original American bagel" [a round roll with a hole in the middle] which was fried and then baked is Hamotzi.
17. Donuts. It should be noted that some bakeries bake their donuts in an oven without frying them. There are also bakeries that first fry their donuts and then bake them in an oven. These donuts are Mezonos only because they are pas habo'oh bekisnin if they are very sweet and were made with a lot of oil and sugar, not because they are fried. Therefore, all poskim would agree that if one eats them as a meal, he would need to say Hamotzi and bentch in accordance with the halochoh of pas habo'oh bekisnin.
